[Fwd: Re: Some Discussions on the goal/direction of the official Ubuntu Book]

[Jonathan Jesse]

Good afternoon,

Jane and I have had several email conversations in regards to the book
that is being written.  I have received permission from Jane to forward
this on.

The dicsusion that she was hoping to start was to figure out some way of
including the book material on the cd, whether in the example content or
some other form.  sabdfl has requested some form of Menu option if
possible.  I'll let Jane chime in and add more content if she would like,
but just wanted to update the doc team on where the discussion is going
on.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: Some Discussions on the goal/direction of the official Ubuntu
Book
From:    "Jane Silber" <jane.silber at canonical.com>
Date:    Tue, May 9, 2006 10:12 am
To:      "Jonathan Jesse" <jjesse at iserv.net>
Cc:      Debra_Williams at prenhall.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for writing.  I appreciate your concerns and that of the doc
team.  I think there are a couple fundamental misunderstandings about
this book. I'm hopeful that we can clear those up.  I appreciate your
willingness to try to help get buy in from the doc team and to talk
about the next steps for the book.

The major issues upsetting the team at the moment appear to me:

- the notion that this book is "official" documentation and the doc team
work isn't.  I can understand this but think that the word "official" is
taking on extra meaning.  It is true that the word is in the title of
the book. And unfortunately I and others have started referring to it as
the "Official Book" but in large part that is to differentiate it from
the 8-10 other Ubuntu books on the market or soon to be on the market.
We were using that word as part of the title, not as an adjective in the
sense that "this is official and nothing else (particularly the doc team
work) isn't".  Having said that, I can absolutely understand how that
subtle distinction can get lost in conversation, not-very-careful
typing, etc. and I'm sorry for my role in that.

- the notion that this book competes with the online documentation,
particularly the Desktop Guides.  I think it doesn't. The doc team is
doing a fantastic job of producing and translating the online
documentation. That's fantastic.  This is a book, much like the many
other Ubuntu books.  There is a recognised need for and difference
between online doc and physical books.  Both have existing for a long
time and both will continue to exist.  Being able to include this book
excerpt in Ubuntu is a real coup for Ubuntu and a real bonus for Ubuntu
users.  It brings to life the emphasis that Ubuntu places on open
licensing, practice what we preach, etc.  I do see how it will be
necessary to position it carefully within Ubuntu to provide a good user
experience and not confuse them with the online system doc - that's why
I raised the topic on the mailing list.

- that this book was done in secret, without community involvement.  We
specifically are supporting this book because (a) the open licensing and
(b) that it is written by members of the community.  The book was talked
about publicly on the Fridge (http://fridge.ubuntu.com/node/282) among
other places and there are at least 6 members of the community either
writing or reviewing it, including at least 2-3 members of the doc team.

Ubuntu books are part of the Ubuntu ecosystem - I think that is a bonus
for Ubuntu and Ubuntu users that we are able to provide that content in
an open manner, not a cause for distress.

As for future plans, I know that Debra is already arranging translations
of the book, and we expect that there will be updates (perhaps annual,
but still to be determined) to the book content itself.    Debra -
perhaps you can provide more info on that?

Cheers,
Jane

Jonathan Jesse wrote:
> Deb and Jane,
>
> This morning/afternoon depending on what time zone you are in, the Doc
> Team started having some discusion on the Official Ubuntu Book and I
> didn't know really how to respond to them.
>
> The documentation team is trying to figure out what the next steps for the
> Official Ubuntu Book and more importantly the overall picture of what the
> goals are for the book.
>
> Part of the concern is that the documentation team feels left out of how
> to deal with keeping it up to date and also perhaps merging it back into
> the current documentation that is being used in order to prevent the
> current situation that we have now with the desktop guides and the Ubuntu
> chapters that are shipping with 6.10 being duplicates.
>
> Could you help me understand the next steps after the release of the book
> and how we can get buy-in with the documentation team.
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
>
>



-- 
Jonathan Jesse